Project Natal becomes Kinect

Microsoft's Kinect technology has been officially named at the beginning of the E3 games expo in Los Angeles.

The technology, which lets Xbox owners play games without handheld controllers, using body movements and speech instead, was first unveiled at last year's conference under the name Project Natal.

Kinect takes the form of a slim, black device that will plug into any Xbox 360, containing a camera, audio sensors and motion-sensing technology that tracks 48 points of movement on the human body.

It also has the ability to recognise faces and voices, Microsoft said. More Kinect announcements are expected from the company's Xbox team later on Monday.

Marc Whitten, corporate vice president of Xbox Live, said: "It's an amazing year just when you look at the things people are expecting. But we're excited to also be announcing ways that make it simpler for everyone to enjoy the things we do.

"People who are intimidated by a controller or game pad will finally get to unlock some of the experiences that are possible in the living room, gaming and non-gaming alike," he continued.

Web User will bring you more news from E3 as it becomes available.